Lacuna Locutus
by wackyjacqs
Summary: Because sometimes, we can't always speak the words we want to. Written for 'Scrabble Day', April 13. Missing scene(s) for Season 7, 'Lost City'. There's a couple of chapters to this fic. S/J.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, earlier today I discovered it is 'Scrabble Day' (Yep, another bizarre holiday for you all!) and I remembered of the crossword scene in Lost City. I'm still trying to figure out the link between the two, but there you go! :) **

**This is a little something I came up with. I really hope it makes sense. It hasn't been beta read, so any mistakes are mine. I have also spent the entire weekend at ComicCon, then drove around 100 miles to get back home... so I'm a little on the tired side. :) If there are any glaring mistakes or issues, let me know and I'll fix 'em tomorrow!**

**Oh, and this is a missing scene (or two!) from S7, Lost City. Set shortly after Daniel and Teal'c ruined an _amazing_ moment between Sam and Jack! **

* * *

**Lacuna Locutus**

* * *

Sam watched until her teammates' car disappeared out of view. Closing the front door, she laughed softly - after all this time, Daniel still couldn't hold his alcohol.

Silently thankful that Teal'c could safely take the inebriated archeologist home, she turned on her heel and headed back to the den.

"Do you think Daniel will regret drinking all those beers tomorrow... Sir?"

She trailed off when she realized her Commanding Officer was no longer there. Glancing around, she frowned - she hadn't heard him walk past as she said goodbye to their teammates.

"Sir?"

Greeted by silence, Sam decided to forgo cleaning in favor of finding her friend.

Heading towards the kitchen, she looked in and saw he wasn't there. The sliding door was also closed, so she thought it safe to assume that he hadn't gone outside or up to the roof.

"_Sir?_"

She didn't receive a verbal response, but a soft thud coming from down the hall told her everything she needed to know. She stopped outside the Colonel's bedroom and hesitated when she saw the door was ajar.

She tried once again. "Sir? Is everything okay?"

Her concern only increased when he didn't answer. She carefully pushed open the door and glanced around, frowning when she saw her CO lying on the bed, facing away from her.

Sam wondered if she should move closer. She felt like she was intruding - she had only been in his bedroom once before, and that was only because of the whole Asgard cloning scenario - but in the end, her concern overruled anything else she was feeling.

Making her way around the bed, she saw her CO's eyes were closed. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Sir?" She asked softly.

"Yeah," came the quiet reply.

"Are you okay?"

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at her. Without saying a word, Sam knew something wasn't right, but also knew that the Colonel wouldn't say so.

She stepped back as he pushed himself into a sitting position and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"Take a load off," he gestured to the space beside him. Sam gingerly sat down, her leg brushing his.

"Is everything okay, Sir?"

A snort was her answer before a sarcastic, "Just peachy, Carter."

Sam grimaced, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "I should go," she said by way of apology, moving to stand. She didn't get very far though as the Colonel reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"You can stay," he said, not letting go.

Nodding, Sam sat back down and cradled her hands in her lap as the Colonel released her.

"I have a headache."

Sam was surprised by his admission – Jack _never_ revealed when he was in pain or discomfort, so she realized it must have been one hell of a headache he was nursing.

"Have you taken -"

"No. They wouldn't help anyway; that headsucker's a bitch."

Sam's lips quirked into a small smile before her concern returned. Her CO squeezed his eyes shut, and then pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to block out the pain.

At the same time, Sam's hand started to move of its own volition and her forefingers gently touched his temple, and trailed down the side of the his face.

Jack turned to look at her. He started to say something, but changed his mind. Instead, he let his gaze fall to Sam's lips, then back to her eyes.

The next thing Sam knew, she had leaned in to place a kiss on Jack's cheek, but he turned his head at the last second, causing their lips to meet softly. It was only for a couple of seconds, and they both pulled back.

"You should get some rest, Sir," Sam whispered softly, thankful her voice remained steady.

"Yeah," he replied.

He waited until Sam left the room before letting out a resigned sigh.

* * *

Sam had spent the last hour tidying from the team's impromptu get together earlier that day. She had just wiped the worktop down in the kitchen when she heard sounds coming from the den.

Setting the cloth down, she was surprised to find the Colonel walking around – and setting up what looked to be a Scrabble board.

"Are you feeling better, Sir?"

"Not really."

"Oh."

Fidgeting, Sam watched him sit down on the couch and grab the bag of Scrabble letters, before tipping them onto the board. He then proceeded to pick out certain letters and form words on the board. They weren't placed the way the game rules stated; rather, each word was created separately.

It was almost as if the Colonel was deliberately doing it that way – like spelling out a message.

Sam looked at him in puzzlement. She could tell the headache was still bothering him, but what worried her more, was the distant look in his eye. She had only seen that look once before – when the Ancient repository started to take over his mind.

"With all due respect, Sir -"

"I don't know, Carter," he answered harshly. "I just... I can't explain it. I need to do this."

Taking a deep breath, Sam nodded, then moved to sit beside him. Her eyes scanned the board, but the words made no sense. She could feel her heart start to pound against her chest and, not for the first time, she wondered if the download was taking hold of the Colonel at a more accelerated rate than before.

Trying to stay calm, she idly noted Jack had finished rearranging the letters, and she looked at some of the words again.

_Abicierum._

_Deserde._

_Puta._

Glancing sideways, Sam discovered she was being watched intently.

"What does this mean?" She asked, gesturing to the board.

Jack shrugged, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck.

"I don't know... Well, I do. Sort of. Look, Sam… If I don't..." he trailed off in frustration. "If you don't find a way to get this outta here –" he said, waving vaguely around his head.

"– No. We will find a way."

"But if you don't," he pressed, silently pleading with her to understand, "Promise me that you'll ask Daniel. He'll know what it means."

After what felt like an eternity, Sam finally looked away from her Commanding Officer and nodded. She focused on the dozen words in front of her and burned them into her memory, because even though she would do everything she could to save Jack, she also couldn't ignore the growing sense of dread settling in her heart.

**TBC...**

* * *

**A/N: I'll reference the Ancient stuff in the next chapter. Right now, I've got to catch some sleep before I go to work soon! :( **

**However, with regards to the title, it's a play on Latin, I think. It's been a good ten years since I studied the language, but 'Lacuna' means 'to make lost, or to hide', while 'Locutus' means 'to utter or talk'.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am so, so SO unbelievably sorry for the ridiculous delay in updating this fic!**

* * *

_Previously…_

_After what felt like an eternity, Sam finally looked away from her Commanding Officer and nodded. She focused on the dozen words in front of her and burned them into her memory, because even though she would do everything she could to save Jack, she also couldn't ignore the growing sense of dread settling in her heart._

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Sam focused on the sound of her combat boots hitting against the concrete. Each step she took thundered in her ears. She idly registered Daniel and Teal'c falling into step behind her, flanking left and right, respectively.

She tried to keep looking ahead, but in the periphery of her vision she could see the various airmen and staff of the SGC looking at them. She could see the conflict etched on their faces; gratitude that Earth was safe once again, but there was also grief, because they knew exactly what their new-found freedom had cost the team. The SGC. Earth.

Colonel O'Neill was gone and there was no way to know when – or even _if _– they would be able to get him back. Closing her eyes, Sam refused to think about the latter. Forcing the thoughts out of her mind, she continued towards the infirmary.

* * *

The moment the Major's post-mission check up was complete, she was out the door before Daniel and Teal'c could stop her. It was the same with their post-mission briefing with Dr Weir; as soon as the word 'dismissed' was uttered, Sam had fled the Briefing Room and made her way to the elevators. She waited until the doors closed and the display numbers started to change before she let out a breath. She needed to get out of the base.

Striding into the locker room, Sam was silently thankful that it was empty and made quick work of changing into her civvies. Grabbing her purse and denim jacket, she slammed her locker door closed and headed back to the elevator.

As she waited on it approaching, she shoved a hand into the pocket of her jacket only to feel something sharp hit her fingers. Frowning, she pulled out the offending object. It was a piece of paper, folded in half twice. Inhaling sharply, Sam didn't need to look to know what was written on the page. It was the message the Colonel had literally spelled out that afternoon at his home.

The cheery ping as the elevator doors opened cut through Sam's thoughts. Stepping inside, her hand hovered over the display. Deciding to ignore the button that would take her to the surface, she is pressed the button that would take her to Level 18.

When Sam arrived at Daniel's lab, she was almost wishing he wasn't there – but when she entered the room, she was not entirely surprised to see him engrossed in an array of Ancient texts littering his workbench.

"Daniel?"

Her teammate looked up from his study, surprised to see her standing there.

"Sam! I thought you had left for the night."

It wasn't a question, but she answered anyway. "I was... but..."

Suddenly, her vision blurred and she had to blink hard as the tears threatened to fall. Before she realized what was happening, Daniel had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"I know, Sam. I know."

They stood in each other's arms for a couple of minutes, before Sam pulled back slightly. She took a deep breath to try and calm her emotions. She glanced to the bench and frowned.

"What is that?"

Following her line of sight, the archeologist moved to the stack of books and papers.

"There has to be a way to bring him back. So I thought I'd try and find it," he admitted with a small shrug.

Touched by his devotion to their former team leader, Sam placed a hand gently on his arm.

"We will, Daniel."

He offered a small smile, and then his eyes fell on the piece of paper in Sam's hand.

"What's that?"

She could feel herself blushing, but her desire to have the Colonel – _Jack_ – back home with them, overruled any doubts she had. She straightened and forced herself to look her friend in the eye.

"I need your help."

With that, she handed over the note and held her breath as Daniel slowly took it from her. She waited for him to open it and then tried not to fidget as he read it once, twice and then again a third time. When a frown appeared on the archeologist's face, she closed her eyes. Maybe she had been mistaken and the Colonel's note made no sense whatsoever. The sound of Daniel's voice drew her attention.

"Where did you get this?" he asked warily, his eyes never leaving the note.

Sam shrugged. "It was given to me."

The vague answer caused her friend to look up and she could see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to piece everything together.

"Do you know what it says?"

Removing his glasses, Daniel sighed. "Not exactly."

He continued just as Sam was about to speak. "I mean, a few of the words I recognize, but..."

"But?" Sam questioned when he trailed off.

"Some of the words... They can have more than one meaning, depending on the context in which they are being used."

Sam raised a brow. "Okay..."

"Well," the archeologist sighed, replacing his glasses. "There, for example. 'Deserdi'. It can mean 'to seek' or 'to desire' something. And here," he said, pointing at a word near the bottom of the page. "'Puta'. It means 'to think', or 'believe'."

"I don't follow, Daniel."

"Depending on the context… Some of these words, they're… _personal_. "

"Personal?"

The young man tore his eyes away from the note he held and observed his friend.

"Jack gave you this, didn't he?"

**TBC...**


End file.
